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“Farmers market, we took a swim, and someone had a nap. Then we decided to enjoy the great weather and play out here.” My days are not exciting, they are simple, and I love that they are. I get up and pour Sal a drink, and he listens to Raul babble in baby talk with the odd word thrown in.
“Sounds like an almost perfect day,” he says taking his glass from me. Raul wiggles down and goes back to his toys. Having turned one, he is a bundle of pure energy, he is either going at full speed or he is asleep. There’s no middle ground. Sal turns to face me, and smiles. “Maybe we can make it perfect, perfect.”
“The baby is awake,” I shake my head, and chuckle at his insatiable appetite for intimacy.
“I wasn’t talking about sex, this time,” he smirks, and slides onto the floor next to my lounger. On one knee, I am gob smacked, as he pulls out a ring box. “Lucia, would you marry me?” Not in my wildest dreams had I considered marriage, he has never even mentioned it before — like, at all. Not even a hint. “Please, be my wife. Be Raul’s mama. I want to legally adopt him, with you.”
My tears fall without a care, and my heart pitter-patters with an overwhelming joy.
“Yes,” I say breathlessly. “I will marry you, Sal.” Of course, I will, I love him. There is no doubt, no hesitation. I know I want this. “But I have to tell you something first.” I stop him before he puts the ring on my finger.
He looks me in the eyes, and I can see fear. He thinks I am going to tell him something bad — we are conditioned to think the worst always. “It’s nothing bad,” I smile, wiping my teary cheeks with my hand.
“What is it?” he asks, holding my hand, still waiting to put the diamond on my finger.
“I’m pregnant.” I have been waiting to tell him, to be certain. But I know, I’m late. My boobs ache, and I wanted to spew up my lunch. It is not like we have ever been careful, or that I even gave it much thought. I was on the shot, and I guess it lasts longer than three months, but not quite a year. He’s quiet, too quiet. “You’re not saying anything.”
“You’re going to have a baby?” he stammers out the question, and then looks back at Raul. “My baby?”
“Well, it certainly isn’t anyone else’s,” I say, he seems shocked, and has forgotten he was halfway through his proposal. His thoughts have moved on past asking me to be his wife, to being a dad. I think I see a tear in his eye, but I will never tell him that’s what I saw. He’d deny it — men do not cry. Especially men like him.
“Well then, you have to marry me,” he says, with a soft laugh, putting the ring on my finger, “I mean I have to do the right thing. I knocked you up, now I have to care for you forever, and ever.”
I love him, and how cheesy he can be when he isn’t being so serious. I was worried he’d be upset, he already has Raul, with another baby and a one-year-old it won’t be easy. I already love the child inside me, as much as I love Raul and Sal. We’re already a family, wedding ring or not, I belong to him.
“The right thing, huh?” I kiss him, “we better do that quickly then, so no one knows just how sinful we have been. Shotgun wedding it is.” Sal laughs and gets up to sit with me. “I love you.”
“I love you, Lucia.” He doesn’t whisper it anymore, Sal loves me out loud. “An island wedding?” he suggests with bright eyes. “Shotgun doesn’t sound like it would be safe for the children.”
I laugh at him and wonder how I ended up falling love with this man.
“Will it be ready?” I ask him because I would love to get married there. We began on that island, it seems right that we get married where it all started. “And will you allow people to know where we are?” He never spoke about that, his island has always been a secret. Not a soul knew where it was except a few of the Russian boats and even then, all the had were some GPS coordinates.
“It is ready, which is why I asked you to marry me today. We won’t be here much longer,” he says, proud of his efforts, “and it would depend on who was going to be invited. We don’t exactly have friends and family.”
He is right, we are our own little family. We don’t need anyone else.
“A priest and a witness are enough,” I say, who cares who is there as long we have one another.
“We can manage that.” Sal kisses me again, and I am happy. The joy in my heart is enough, I don’t need anything else.
THE END
